Summary of Services

Pain continues to be a feared complication following surgical and other procedures. Inadequate pain management in surgical settings can result in slower recovery, greater morbidity, prolonged lengths of stay, lower patient satisfaction, higher health care costs, and long-term pain management issues. Comprehensive pain management for patients undergoing surgical and other procedures requires a coordinated interdisciplinary approach that emphasizes continuity of care throughout the surgical experience. In addition, specialized pain management may also be required following inpatient surgical procedures for patients with potential complications such as chronic pain, opioid tolerance, prior unsatisfactory perioperative pain management experiences, and requiring ongoing pain management after their surgical experience and discharge.

The Perioperative Pain Clinic is open.

The Perioperative Pain Clinic is based in the Center for Pain Relief, and is open Monday through Friday. The clinic will see patients undergoing hospitalized surgery with complex pain management needs during the perioperative period. Goals are to set reasonable expectations and to optimize postoperative analgesia and the transition to home analgesics. The clinic is staffed by a physician assistant, clinical pharmacists, and is supported by pain specialist physicians. Services include:

Prior to surgery: Patients may be scheduled for their Perioperative Pain Clinic visit after their surgery is scheduled and if they are currently requiring ongoing opioid medications. These visits will establish a comprehensive pain care plan for the planned inpatient surgical procedure. Our clinic providers will counsel the surgical patient and help coordinate their perioperative pain control needs with our surgeons, anesthesiologists, and Acute Pain Service staff. An emphasis will likely be placed on state of the art regional analgesia and multimodal analgesic techniques to provide optimal pain control.

During an inpatient stay: The Perioperative Clinic staff can partner with inpatient providers and services to optimize inpatient pain control and to prepare for transition to outpatient oral analgesics. The Acute Pain Service may also directly refer patients for postoperative follow up to the Perioperative Pain Clinic.

After discharge: Some patients may have uneventful pain management following surgery and through the discharge period, but may develop pain control challenges after discharge. POPS can see such patients. This would be following first F/U visit to surgical services in order to rule-out medical issues which would need to be managed by surgical services. Patients can be seen for POPS for up to 90 days.

POPS Contact for Referral/Other Information for UW Providers, Patient Care Coordinators, and other referring staff: 206-598-1644 to schedule a patient